Animation Source Forums

UPDATE ON 24/07/2011 : Considering the rules have been changed since there are categories, these are outdated.
The only valid rules are the ones in the characters send page, which are currently :



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Ok, since Steet created the new fan characters section on the site a lot of people have been creating their own characters and inevitably people have got it a bit wrong.
More than likely our fault for not putting in/up a guide but it really should be common sense to follow the rest of the site rules and such.

So instead I shall put a guide here for all to read.



A fan character should (obviously) be a character YOU created that is within the Balto or Lion King universes.
A fan version of Balto & Jenna's/Simba & Nala's/Kovu & Kiara's/any other official characters Pups/Cubs are allowed.
A fan version of any official character's brother/sister/mother/father/etc. are allowed.

ONLY animals that are within the Balto universe are allowed in the Balto fan characters. E.g. Wolves, humans, dogs, geese, bears etc.
Animals not within the Balto universe are NOT accepted in the fan characters section. If you can't find your character's breed/species in the drop-down list on the Character Creation/Upload page then it obviously doesn't belong there.
The same thing for The Lion King Source.


Other characters that "interact" with the Balto/Lion King universe ARE allowed.
E.g. Your created husky that runs in the same team as Balto or one of Balto & Jenna's pups (Official or fan created) Or your created Cheetah character that is friends with Kiara.

Characters that are animals within the Balto/Lion King universe but do NOT have anything to do with the movie characters/stories are NOT allowed.

Official characters from other movies/TV shows/video games etc. are NOT allowed. They're copyrighted characters that do not have anything to do with Balto/Lion King universes.







(Note: None of these are supposed to represent anyone else's characters except my own art. If it does it's accidental and I apologize - It's not actually your character.)



Using photographs as a character's picture:

This should be common sense. If it's a photograph you're obviously not going to be able to post pictures of this character anywhere BUT their character page.
Photo's are not accepted in Fan Art or Images.

Using edited photo's:

Another no-brainer really. Same reason as above. It's not accepted anywhere else and you couldn't recreate the same thing over and over.

Bad renders:

These aren't accepted in fan Images so they're not going to be accepted in fan characters, simple consistency.

Bad linearts:

(This isn't the best example but I tried.)
Same as bad renders.

Colour-overs of other people's artwork:

It's considered art theft. Plain and simple.
We don't need to know if the artist said at some point "I don't care about people colouring over my art" it's against the site rules and therefore not allowed.

Using Google (Or any other) images as a character picture:

This could easily be art theft and is obviously not your created character, someone else created it therefore not yours and shouldn't be used as such.

Official characters from other series:

It's an official character of another TV show/movie. Simple.
It's not part of the official Balto or Lion King characters cast and doesn't belong on Balto/TLKSource.





Your own artwork of your character:


A good lineart:


A good render:

(Ok, I'm not the best but I also didn't want to use anyone else's.)



About fan versions of official characters:
By fan versions I mean a character from another movie turned into a different animal.
These are technically not your characters just your version of another character in a different form. They are not allowed.



How often to use renders/linearts:
Obviously it's fine to use these as pictures for your character's pages but try not to use them for EVERY character. Use some of your own art aswell.

Hmm,this looks like a very useful guide,and very handy.^^

Awesome, UK!

This should clear up the confusion of what is - and what is not acceptable in Fan Characters!

*stamp of approval*

what a great idea!

It looks great! And it's a very useful guide! I hope more people use it!
This fan charter is only inverted, I am not complealty sure if it's allowed. http://baltosource.timduru.org/en/chars ... /2903.html

thanks! i suppose this rule also applies to RPGS. (if it does, can we get the persons permission to use it first if its an original drawing?)

i dont mean to be stubborn or anything i just wanna know.. (curious bee) lol

As far as I know, using other people's character's/artwork is not allowed in the RP boards without their express permission.
The RP mods will have a clearer explanation though. ;]

Thanks so much!

Isn't against the rules to use offical characters of anything in Role-Play Box RP's?
I've been told this again and again yet I still see members doing this?
Did the rules change somehow about this?

To be completely honest, I'm really not sure. The RP mods will know though. (Lux or Aniu.C)

Official characters are allowed to use in RP's in the appropriate section.
Anything else must be 'original'.

To use someone else's character in RP's, you need to ask the creator of permission to use it (this is checked and enforced - I read through EVERY roleplay).

Huh... never quite got the gist behind all these Mary Sues. I mean, whatever happened to the good fics and fanarts when everything was about Balto? Isn't that why the greater majority of us come here to begin with?